• Sweden Says YES To Online Poker

November 25, 2005 - The Swedish cabinet on Thursday gave the greenlight to state-owned gaming company Svenska Spel to introduce online poker during a two-year trial period. The government said it wanted to offer online poker to a gaming company that Swedish government agencies can influence and that are not driven by private profit interests. Jesper Karrbrink, chief executive of Svenska Spel, welcomed the decision saying online poker has a turnover of some 9-10 bln kronor (1.1-1.2 bln dollars), which generates a profit of 1 bln kronor (124 mln dollars) for the gaming companies. Svenska Spel estimates it will be able to corner a third of the market within a year. Douglas Roos, Nordic chief executive of rival gaming company Ladbrokes was doubtful about that estimate, but said the British-based company anticipated that it would benefit from Svenska Spel's entry on the stage. However, critics questioned the decision saying it increases the risk of gaming dependency and that the safeguards were insufficient. The government stipulated an age limit of 18 to be allowed to play online poker, marketing will only be allowed in newspapers and on the Internet, and the player will only be allowed to play after setting a limit for how much he or she wanted to stake. The maximum stake was set at 79,400 kronor (9,300 dollars) and a review will be conducted in 2007. Svenska Spel reported a turnover for 2004 of 20 bln kronor (2.4 bln dollars). (dpa)

> Read the full story here Source: FinancialMirror.com

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